At Odds With Mods (8/15/2024)

To modify or not to modify - Is that even a question?

It has been my observation that gun people are not unlike car people in many ways. Being a member of both groups, I can say with confidence that gear-heads exist in abundance in both camps. What makes both groups so much alike is in their affinity for tinkering and upgrading. I simply can’t leave factory fresh untampered with and I am not alone. We all like to think about what modifications could be done to improve the performance of our ride at the track or our weapon of choice at the range. Additionally there is that natural desire to personalize an item so that it is different from every other copy out there. Buying accessories and making modifications are just human nature and a natural part of owning a firearm.

But before you go out and start making changes, it is important to understand when you should and should not make significant modifications to an otherwise stock firearm. As a rule, the manufacturers have done an extensive amount of research and development to arrive at a weapon’s final retail configuration. Many such guns have long service histories that lend credibility to their unmodified design. For the purposes of this month’s newsletter article, we are going to focus only on handguns, and more specifically, those destined for concealed carry and personal defense roles. It is also important that we try to make a distinction between what constitutes an accessory and what is a true modification. This distinction is important in understanding how we configure our custom carry rig to suit our needs, our training and our sense of style.

In general, accessories are external to the gun itself and do not alter the gun’s performance. Holsters and lights, for example, can certainly affect a shooter’s performance, but they do not impact the performance of the firearm itself. A mounted weapon light, while considered by many to be a modification is really more of an accessory. It illuminates the environment in which the weapon is being used, but aside from a possible shift in muzzle weight, it doesn’t truly affect the way the handgun operates. The same thing applies to a holster. Although a good holster will improve draw speed, carry comfort and concealment, it still doesn’t affect the function of the gun. Modifications, on the other hand, are far more varied and complicated. It is this that is the subject of this month’s article.

The concern here is the extent to which you can modify a gun for a specific role that eventually makes it incapable of, or inappropriate for, another role. By far, the most common modification that evokes this discussion is the so-called “trigger job.” We see triggers modified extensively in competition circles. In fact, they are the norm. Rarely is a bone stock gun used in competition. Competition guns are even available from the factory as highly and professionally-tuned variants of popular models. Even these factory-modified guns are often further modified by the customer, or by a gunsmith at the customer’s request.

The one thing you can’t help but notice is that competition shooters, with unicorn rare exceptions, never carry their competition arms for defense. There is a very good reason for this. Competition guns almost always have very light triggers compared to their stock counterparts. They are Ferraris, built for speed and precision. This high degree of refinement, however, is generally incompatible with an unwanted surprise attack in the proverbial dark alley. I’m not suggesting that competition doesn’t cause a rush of excitement, but it is very different from the visceral adrenaline dump of a life-and-death encounter with an assailant or active shooter. Tunnel vision, heart palpitations, hyperventilation, dry mouth, muscle tightness, loss of fine motor control, time dilation, tremors and more will manifest in even the most seasoned gunfighter under the stress of the fight or flight response. The last thing you want to add to that equation is a hair trigger. This is even more a concern in the hands of the shooter with average or little training who is nonetheless inevitably drawn to the sex appeal of the latest pistol mods aimed at the competition shooter.

Trigger jobs, of which there are many variations on the theme, may be the most common such mod, but they are on a rather lengthy list of things that can be done to a stock gun to improve performance. A great many mods, in fact, carry no downside for defensive roles. Serrations, stippling, aftermarket grips etc can improve ergonomics, mitigate sweaty hands and provide improved cocking and clearing of a handgun, not to mention providing more striking visual characteristics. Another common modification is an improved set of night sights or even an electronic red dot optic. I place these into the modifications bucket, as opposed to being a mere accessory, because they frequently require the removal or blocking of the stock factory sights at least, and CNC milling of the slide at most. Improved optics and sights have no affect on the function of the internals. Instead, they merely help compensate for poor visibility in low or no light conditions and also help to overcome the shooter’s natural vision challenges, if any, to provide quicker and more positive sight picture and target acquisition.

Completing the list of common mods would be the myriad of available tactile improvements to the outer controls such as safety and takedown levers, de-cockers, and magazine releases. They come in all shapes and sizes aimed at giving different hand shapes and sizes a more comfortable experience with the weapon. Although these items improve human-weapon interfaces, they don’t commonly impose any deleterious effect on performance or safety. Another group of mods include barrel swaps, threading, compensators and more. It would be impossible to consider all of the options for enhancements using changes to geometry, exotic lightweight materials and novel engineering.

The caveat, of course, is training. If you trained with stock gun, then modified it in any way, you have a responsibility to retrain yourself accordingly. Think of it like dropping a powerful V8 motor into a small sedan. Its power, handling and weight distribution are going to change dramatically. It hardly matters how well you drove it before. It is now a different car and you must overcome an all-new learning curve to master it again. And just like high performance car, where lives are at risk if misused, the same is true with a modified firearm.

The issue of modifications doesn’t stop at potential safety issues. It is well-known in Law Enforcement circles that modification of duty weapons is commonly frowned upon and quite often even prohibited. This is due to the universal training methods and programs for officers that cannot possibly take into account the vast universe of potential modifications and parts. They instead prefer a uniformed weapon platform that is proven, consistent and enjoys single manufacturer support. To allow uniformed officers to make modifications to their duty weapons would create a liability nightmare anytime a deadly force event occurred. Every death, every injury, every failure to fire would be challenged by prosecutors to ascertain whether the modification was at fault and the modifying officer was to blame.

Think you’re off the hook when modifying your carry gun because you’re not a cop? Think again. In the wake of a deadly force event, you will be deposed and you may have to articulate to court why your gun was so highly modified. Any good prosecutor, particularly those who may hold anti-gun sentiments, will absolutely have access to, and make good use of, information about modifications to your defensive carry gun. That prosecutor will mercilessly challenge your intentions to use deadly force and may even suggest to a jury that the modifications are indicative of a personality that wanted to shoot someone. In other words, a stock gun wasn’t enough for you. You had to have a gun that was unnecessarily powerful and complex and you couldn’t wait to use it. Any modifications would be subject to justification. This never more true than in ammo selection.

While not a modification, ammo choice is just as much a critical decision for a carry gun. First and foremost, you must select an ammo that is not only appropriate for a defensive role (not target ammo) but it must also reliably feed through your weapon. According to Bill Quirk, our Lead Instructor, you should put no less than 250 rounds of a defensive ammo through your carry weapon to have absolute confidence in its reliability in your gun. Even after you’ve done that, if you make any mods to that gun, you should probably test it again. While there is a dizzying range of brands, types and configurations of defensive ammo, all thoroughly tested by their manufacturers, there are also a fair number of exotic, hyped and fringe ammo designs marketed as devastatingly lethal. These products are usually more expensive, less diligently tested and questionable in their real-life performance data. While fun to think about, they represent a potential liability in a deadly force encounter for the same reasons mentioned previously. Some of these ammo products are even marketed under names like RIP and DRT (Dead Right There) that will further fuel a legal argument that you wanted to kill someone rather than wanting to merely stop a threat. To be clear, I am not making a case for less-than-lethal defense. What I am saying is that the edgy marketing aimed at getting people to buy these products can actually end up being a trap for those that actually use it in self-defense. My advice? Steer clear. If you can’t resist, keep it limited to shooting watermelons for giggles. Keep it out of your defensive carry rig.

All-in-all, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with making modifications to you guns, even ones carried for self-defense. However, do it within reason, do it with a well-defined purpose, be able to verbally articulate why you made the modifications, test the mods extensively, and have the wisdom to recognize when a modified gun crosses a line into being more geared for fun and competition. Use what works. Carry what is proven. Don’t buy into the hype. When in doubt, talk to an instructor or gunsmith to better understand the anticipated effects of a modification. Ultimately you are 100% responsible and liable for any modifications that intentionally or unintentionally cause harm to another person, even if that person is trying to harm you. Finally, whether stock or modified, TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN.

Stay Calm and Carry On!

Todd Johnson - Contributor-at-Large

Lawful Defense ╾━╤デ╦︻ ShootGTR